We all know that, credit card companies do not do business by giving away a service at no cost. One of the ways by which they put together a big fraction of their income is by charging interest on any balance that you carry over from one payment time period to another. Even though this interest is charged monthly, interest increases on interest. And as a result credit card companies are obligated (in most cases by consumer law) to announce their interest rates not as a monthly sum for example 1.9%, but relatively as yearly figure, for example 22%. Since the interest rate announced is planned over the phase of a year, it is known as the Annual Percentage Rate, or APR in short, and is the fastest way of knowing which credit card company asks for the lowest rate of interest for using their card.

Having said this, there are a few of extra things you have to keep in mind when equating the APR advertised by diverse card issuers, that is: Yearly Fees: Does the issuer you are taking into consideration ask for any yearly membership fee? This is a significant query since some issuers can "hide" fees to be paid for using their card in the scheme of an annual fee. In some way this lets them to lower their APR equivalent to those issuers who do not ask for membership fees. Still, when you take in the membership fee as fraction of the interest rate, time and again the amount you are being charged is higher than if you had thought to make use of the services of a supplier that charged a somewhat higher APR, but no yearly membership fee. Credit ranking: Your credit ranking will have an effect on the interest rate you shell out on almost all your borrowing and a credit card is not dissimilar in this view. If you have a good credit ranking, you ought to be expecting to pay less APR.

On the other hand, if you have a bad credit ranking, you ought not to be too astonished if you find that you are being asked to pay a higher APR. Failure to pay: It would be tough to stress on how significant it is to make at least the minimum reimbursement on your credit card each month. If you do not do that, you will probably discover that your provider will add to the rate of interest you are being made to pay on your account. At times this can take place even if it may not have been your mistake that the payment was made behind schedule. For example you made the payment but it was acknowledged late.

And without the provider being made to notify you that this default resulted in the interest rate on your credit card to alter. It is, hence, very important that you interpret the small print of any application form you finish to ensure and see if the interest rate will alter because of any non payment or delayed payment and if the issuer will be compelled to let you know that the interest rate has altered. Certainly, the solitary way to make certain that you pay no APR on your credit card usage is to make sure that you pay your credit card balance each statement payment time. Sadly, nevertheless, most of us cannot have the funds for the extravagance of paying off our credit balance each statement time and the card issuers are familiar with this. So, to make certain that you are paying the lowest APR feasible, interpret the small print of the application form and make certain there are no unseen additional fees or charges and that the rate of interest you are paying in actuality is the card's announce APR!.

Daniel Wesley writes finance articles about personal credit report, auto loans, Navy Federal Credit Union and much more. Free articles and consumer finance tips provided at http://www.creditloan.com